# what is wrong with hijacking a thread? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825 "2005-10-25T15:57:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/1 "2005-10-25T15:57:55Z")
I thought tangential thinking was a natural and healthy practice, and does nothing but aid the fight against ignorance. I could see if it caused confusion between titles of threads organizationally, but you can always do a full text search. So what is the problem with it? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/2 "2005-10-25T16:03:07Z")
Intentionally hijacking a thread is just bad manners. If it drifts away from the original topic, it is considered polite to start a new thread. Besides, everybody knows that hockey isn’t really a sport! ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/3 "2005-10-25T16:04:34Z")
Hockey should only be played on grass by girls. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/4 "2005-10-25T16:06:24Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > I thought tangential thinking was a natural and healthy practice, and does nothing but aid the fight against ignorance. I could see if it caused confusion between titles of threads organizationally, but you can always do a full text search. So what is the problem with it? First off, this would be better suited to ATMB, not here. But to answer your question, it’s somewhat rude if the original question hasn’t been answered. It would be like if you, me and Bob were having a conversation, and you asked me what the best way to drive to Niagara Falls was, and then Bob went off on this long rambling story about how he spent his honeymoon in Niagara Falls without letting me answer. It’s just polite to wait until the OP has an answer before steering the conversation in another direction. If the OP has already been answered, though, I don’t particularly see a problem with it. Oh, and you guys are kidding, right? If hockey isn’t a sport, then baseball sure as _hell_ isn’t a sport. Baseball has always reminded me of some bizarre multiplayer version of golf, and we all know that golf isn’t a sport. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/5 "2005-10-25T16:07:55Z")
Baseball is really called rounders, and is played by girls 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/6 "2005-10-25T16:12:33Z")
There is a difference between productive tangential thinking (hey, since we’re all taking about our favorite restaurant, let’s also talk about our favorite food at that restaurant) and hijacking a thread (or all threads) onto that topic (hey, since we’re all talking about our favorite restaurant, let’s talk about how meat is murder). People’s tolerance for the former varies, depending on the forum, type of thread and the poster’s general smoothness and consideration in transitioning the topic. Pretty much nobody will tolerate the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/7 "2005-10-25T16:17:21Z")
Meat is only murder if you do the killing. And no, use of the expression “wow I killed that Porterhouse…” doesn’t qualify. Unless you are at a girls baseball game. ---
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/8 "2005-10-25T16:38:31Z")
> [@mr bus guy](#): > > Meat is only murder if you do the killing. And no, use of the expression “wow I killed that Porterhouse…” doesn’t qualify. > > Unless you are at a girls baseball game. I do not think its rude, in fact, as in the case of this thread, it is quite enlightening and entertaining. What if users could check a small option next to the post that requested all posts to be on topic exclusively? ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/9 "2005-10-25T16:43:37Z")
It can be entertaining, but often doesn’t help the OP get answered, and if it leads to the OP never getting answered it can be bad. Luckily in this thread the OP was answered almost straight away. American football is just rugby and should be played by big girls. ---
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/10 "2005-10-25T16:50:24Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > It can be entertaining, but often doesn’t help the OP get answered, and if it leads to the OP never getting answered it can be bad. Luckily in this thread the OP was answered almost straight away. > American football is just rugby and should be played by big girls. perhaps if the OP isnt answered…that is the answer. Ask a dumb question and… but then, perhaps there are no dumb questions, only hand guns. See Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/11 "2005-10-25T16:54:44Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > perhaps if the OP isnt answered…that is the answer. Ask a dumb question and… > but then, perhaps there are no dumb questions, only hand guns. See Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. I saw Rosencrantz, on the Red Line, getting off at Diversey. His rash is clearing nicely and he says hello. What’s that fork called with 2 tines? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/12 "2005-10-25T17:00:55Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > But to answer your question, it’s somewhat rude if the original question hasn’t been answered. It would be like if you, me and Bob were having a conversation, and you asked me what the best way to drive to **Niagara Falls** was, and then Bob went off on this long rambling story about how he spent his honeymoon in Niagara Falls without letting me answer. It’s just polite to wait until the OP has an answer before steering the conversation in another direction. IANA math expert, so I’m not well versed in tangents. However, Niagara Falls! Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch… ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/13 "2005-10-25T17:20:46Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > IANA math expert, so I’m not well versed in tangents. However, Niagara Falls! Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch… What’s so funny about that anyway? I know it’s an old vaudeville sketch but I didn’t get it even when the Three Stooges did it. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/14 "2005-10-25T17:41:53Z")
Now basketball is really just netball and is played by tall girls. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/15 "2005-10-25T17:45:43Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > I thought tangential thinking was a natural and healthy practice, and does nothing but aid the fight against ignorance. I could see if it caused confusion between titles of threads organizationally, but you can always do a full text search. So what is the problem with it? Its just bad manners to eat another man’s wallabee without at least trading a Komodo for it. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/16 "2005-10-25T18:13:53Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Its just bad manners to eat another man’s wallabee without at least trading a Komodo for it. Isn’t it spelled “wallaby”? That word always looked like it was missing a final “e” to me, but then I guess it would be “Wallabye”, which sounds more like a parting wish. But I did find the definition [here](http://dict.die.net/wallabee/) by Googling wallabee, though it says it’s spelled wallaby… Speaking of Australia and New Zealand ('cause they’re essentially the same, right? OW! Stop hitting me!) the new trailers for TLTW&TW have once again raised the impulse in me to go see New Zealand. I hear they’re raking in the tourist money again. As a message board mod, I hate hijacking because it makes it hard to keep track of where some particular post is if someone asks me for it later. It also tends to lead to huge ass long threads which meander all over the place, instead of nice neat threads with clear and definite (and searchable) subject matters. If someone asked you next month where the definition of “wallaby” was that someone posted recently, would you be able to remember and find it in this mess? But I admit that, as a poster, I hijack all the time (though I try to do it only after the OP is answered). Sorry about that. My brain is sort of tangenty. ---
**Author:** ![pocelene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/0ea827/32.png) [@pocelene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pocelene)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/17 "2005-10-25T18:48:56Z")
The main problem with hijacking is that the original question doesn’t get answered and the poster has to try again and again. Most of my questions have never been answered because people start to chase each other’s questions and forget about the original one. Thus negating the reason for asking at all. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/18 "2005-10-25T18:57:45Z")
I wasn’t sure of the spelling myself, so I googled “wallabe” and it suggested “wallabee”. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/19 "2005-10-25T19:13:58Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > perhaps if the OP isnt answered…that is the answer. Ask a dumb question and… > but then, perhaps there are no dumb questions, only hand guns. See Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. If there is no answer, it shouldn’t be in General Questions. As someone said, this question should have been posted in About This Message Board (ATMB) For the Girls’ Baseball silliness, we have MPSIMS. For advice/opinions/polls we have IMHO. For music, movies, food, and the arts we have Cafe Society. In these three, Hijacks are a bit more easily tolerated. Great Debates, however, they are not. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825/20 "2005-10-25T19:22:33Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > As someone said, this question should have been posted in About This Message Board (ATMB) If I’d seen it in time, I’d have moved it to ATMB, though this is not my forum. If I move it right now though, **Tuba** ’d kill me. This thead has gone silly. I know! I’ll leave it for **rico** to decide! _washes hands_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-hijacking-a-thread/327825.md?page=2)